Monday, January 14, 2008
6:38 PM
These are transcripts of two calls made by school social worker Kathy Lopes after a visit in which she tried to see Brittany Jacks, who had missed several weeks of school beginning last spring. The first call was on the day of the visit, April 27; she placed it to the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency's hotline.
Lopes: My name is Kathy Lopes, L-O-P-E-S.
Child and Family Services Agency: And where are you calling from?
Lopes: Uh ... I am ... the phone number? I am a social worker at Booker T. Washington Public Charter School.
CFSA: Okay. And where is that located?
Lopes: 1346 Florida Avenue Northwest, D.C.
CFSA: And your phone number?
Lopes: Uh, my work number is 202-232-6090, Extension one-seven.
CFSA: Okay. And what's your report today?
Lopes: Uh, we, as a school social worker, have some concerns about truancy of one of our students. We tried to contact them through the phone and were unsuccessful, so we just went to the home. The parent was home. She wouldn't open the door, but we saw young children inside the house, um, which were not in school, and her oldest daughter, who is our student, was home. She wouldn't let us see her. She said she's not allowing her go to school because she doesn't want her to run away and she didn't want the younger children to go to school because she didn't agree with the education, the curriculum, that the D.C. Public Schools was providing.
CFSA: Okay. How old is this child? The one that you're talking about?
Lopes: Our student is 16 years old, but there were [asking someone:] was it two or three? God, there are at least two other children in the home that were about 6, 7 or 8.
CFSA: And ... what school do they go to?
Lopes: Uh ... I'm not aware of what school they go to. I only know about my student's school.
CFSA: Okay. The 16-year-old, what grade is she in?
Lopes: She is a freshman, uh, and the mother did say she does want to go to school but she wasn't going to allow her to go to school, so she's holding her hostage in the home.
CFSA: What is this child's name?
Lopes: Her name is Brittany Jacks. J-A-C-K-S.
CFSA: And how ... What is her date of birth?
Lopes: Uh ... her year is ... hold on, I can give you that, actually. ... Um ... her date of birth ... January 5th, 1991.
CFSA: All right, and ...
Lopes: [unintelligible comment to another person]
CFSA: What's that?
Lopes: I'm sorry, I was talking to the officer.
CFSA: Where does this child live?
Lopes: 4249 Sixth Street in Southeast. We're leaving that area right now.
CFSA: What's the mother's name?
Lopes: Her name is Banita. B-A-N-I-T-A.
CFSA: Banita what?
Lopes: Jacks. Same last name.
CFSA: And the phone number to the home?
Lopes: There is no phone, which is why we had to go there.
CFSA: How many days of school has this child missed?
Lopes: This particular child has missed 33 days this year but has been consistently absent since the first week of March. We haven't seen her. And she expressed to us that she wasn't allowing her to go to school because she was running away or getting into the wrong crowd and things.
CFSA: Is that true?
Lopes: Uh, I don't know. I mean, she used to come consistently to school and was a fairly decent student. She was staying with her aunt, and her aunt said the mother came to pick her up one day, told her to pack her things and that's the last the aunt has heard from her. And that is when she stopped coming to school.
CFSA: Okay. ... All right. Is there anything else?
Lopes: Uh ... no, I mean it's, it's concerning. They are young kids, just sitting there watching TV. They haven't been to school for some time as well. So ...
CFSA: You don't know what school they go to?
Lopes: I don't know, but she said she personally withdrew them from school, and I asked her if -- she said she was home-schooling, and I asked her if she went through the proper procedures. She said no because she didn't agree with the D.C. curriculum so she was going to educate them herself. But they were watching TV and they didn't necessarily look very neat or well-kept. I mean, we weren't allowed to go in the home, so I couldn't see the home. I'm a licensed social worker.
CFSA: Um ... that's true ... but she doesn't have to allow you in her home.
Lopes: No, I understand, but it's concerning from what I was able to see. So I'd appreciate it if an investigator could go out to the home.
CFSA: And we will. Were there any other issues?
Lopes: Um, no, she wouldn't let us speak to Brittany so Brittany was in the home. ... She wouldn't allow us to speak to her. So [unintelligible].
CFSA: Okay. We'll send someone out. Thank you.
Lopes: Okay. Thank you.
Three days later, Lopes contacted police in another effort to get help for Banita Jacks's children.
D.C. police dispatcher: D.C. non-emergency 3-1-1. Dispatcher 501003. How may I assist you?
Lopes: Um, I've been transferred all over. I need someone to go out to a home where I believe abuse and neglect is occurring, and I don't want to be transferred to someone else. It's an urgent matter. CFSA is pretty much sitting on it, and I would like someone to go to the home and check out the home, 'cause I wasn't allowed in it.
Dispatcher: Okay. And where is this?
Lopes: This is in Southeast. Uh, I believe forty -- I can give you the address in one minute.
Dispatcher: Where were you just transferred from?
Lopes: Uh, I've called 3-1-1, which I was transferred to Youth Division, which I was transferred to CFSA, and then transferred back to 3-1-1.
Dispatcher: Oh, okay.
Lopes: And I called the actual district, also. They transferred me to 3-1-1.
Dispatcher: Okay.
Lopes: 4249 Sixth Street in Southeast.
Dispatcher: House or apartment?
Lopes: It's a house.
Dispatcher: All right. And who was abused?
Lopes: Our student, Brittany Jacks, hasn't been to school since March. I went to the home. The mother says she isn't allowing her to leave the house in fear she's going to run away. She would not allow us to speak to her. She's 16 years old. While there, I noticed there were two or three younger children between the ages of 6 and 9 who were home and being kept from school because the mother didn't want them to go to school as well. They've been withdrawn from the school system.
Dispatcher: All right. And you are?
Lopes: I'm the social worker at Booker T. Washington, where the eldest daughter used to attend. Um, I wasn't allow in the home, but from what I could see, the home did not appear clean, the children did not appear clean, and it seemed that the mother is suffering from some mental illness and what she's ... holding all of her children in the home hostage.
Dispatcher: All right. And you said 16-year-old?
Lopes: Yes. And there were, I saw at least two children from the ages of 6 to, I'll say, 9 or 10. And she doesn't want to send them to school.
Dispatcher: All right. And give me the 16-year-old's name again.
Lopes: Brittany Jacks. J-A-C-K-S. They are home. They will not answer the door immediately ... which is what [CFSA] is encountering. She didn't allow me even to see the older daughter.
Dispatcher: And she hasn't been to school since March.
Lopes: Early March. She was living with her aunt. Mom picked her up, and no one has seen her since. But mom says ...
Dispatcher: And the name of the school is Booker T. Washington?
Lopes: Public Charter School. And while I was there, I noticed the younger children were not in school as well, and she says she's withdrawn them because she doesn't want them going to school.
Dispatcher: And your name, ma'am?
Lopes: Kathy Lopes. L-O-P-E-S. This was on Friday, and it hasn't been officially followed up on. I am extremely concerned.
Dispatcher: Phone number?
Lopes: 202-232-6090, Extension one-seven.
Dispatcher: 6090?
Lopes: Um-hmm.
Dispatcher: Extension one-seven?
Lopes: Um-hmm.
Dispatcher: All right. We'll have the next available unit respond to 4249 the number Sixth Street Southeast. Correct?
Lopes: Yes. Is there any possibility that I could get a follow-up?
Dispatcher: Um, you can call back.
Lopes: Okay.
Dispatcher: All right. Okay.
Lopes: Thank you.
Dispatcher: You're welcome. Bye.
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